"The project enhances the area's retail offerings through a combination of new, complementary retail, first-class hotel and residential space and will create tremendous opportunities for Boston and for retailers seeking to enter the marketplace or expand there," says Ross Glickman, CEO of Urban Retail Properties Co.

The development rights includes all the land area and air-rights development over the transportation infrastructure between the Boston Exhibition and Convention Center and the waterfront, within the block framed by Congress Street, D Street, Summer Street and World Trade Center Avenue. The 1.2-million-sf mixed-use plan is part of the city's waterfront redevelopment program and will feature a 20-story condominium complex and a 21-story hotel. The project involves a 600,000-sf retail center with shops and restaurants, 275 residential units, a 450-room hotel linked to the convention center by an underground pedestrian walkway and a proposed Boston Visitor Center adjacent to the center as well as a 1,750-space parking area. The plan also calls for the potential construction of a grocery store on an adjacent parcel on Summer Street and may also add office, housing and hotel space in later phases.

Revenue from the project will assist in funding maritime investments to support the Port of Boston. Massport emphasizes that the new plan is part of the city's plan to create a "self-sustaining neighborhood" on the South Boston Waterfront. Over the past nine years, almost two million sf of space has been developed on Massport property including the Seaport Hotel, the World Trade Centers East and West office buildings, and the Manulife building. Massport's 1.3-acre South Boston Maritime Park is currently under construction and a 465-unit residential project is currently under way on Massport parcels.